View full sizeBruce Ely, The OregonianBlazers advance scout Larry Greer, right, talks to assistant coach Bill Bayno during a game last season. Greer is expected to replace Bayno on the coaching staff this season.

The Blazers are finalizing Greer's
contract, but it is 99 percent complete and the source expects the
deal to become official within the next few days.

Greer has been an NBA scout for six
seasons, including the last four with the Blazers. He worked two
seasons with the Houston Rockets, under coach Jeff Van Gundy, prior
to joining the Blazers.

Before arriving in the NBA, Greer was a
college college coach for roughly 15 years, including a nine-year
stint as an assistant at Boston University. His brother, Andy Greer, is
an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls.

Over the years, McMillan has grown to
value Greer's contributions to scouting and game planning, and when
Bayno left the team last month for an assistant coaching job with the
Minnesota Timberwolves, McMillan instantly targeted Greer as a
replacement.

When asked last month about filling
Bayno's job, McMillan told The Oregonian he hoped “to keep it
within the family” and maintain as much continuity on the staff as
possible. McMillan did not interview any external candidates for the
job.

Greer will join a staff that includes
Bernie Bickerstaff, Bob Ociepka, Kaleb Canales, Dean Cooper and Buck
Williams, who will move from a part-time role into a full-time role
this season.

Greer's most public contribution to the
Blazers came last season during the Blazers' miraculous last-second
98-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won on an alley-oop
in-bound pass from Andre Miller to Nicolas Batum — a play that Greer had
recommended to McMillan earlier in the season.

I discussed that just before the playoffs last season in a profile I wrote about Greer and the role
advanced scouting plays in the NBA.